Cafe Munchkinhttp://cafemunchkin.com
Fri, 07 Feb 2014 06:14:52 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.3And the Winner of the Totino’s Pizzeria Rolls Giveaway Is…http://cafemunchkin.com/2013/05/19/and-the-winner-of-the-totinos-pizzeria-rolls-giveaway-is/
http://cafemunchkin.com/2013/05/19/and-the-winner-of-the-totinos-pizzeria-rolls-giveaway-is/#commentsSun, 19 May 2013 15:19:35 +0000http://cafemunchkin.com/?p=4239… I’ll tell you in just a little bit. Don’t we all hate it when they do this kind of cliffhanger on tv? ;)

There were 16 beautiful people who joined the giveaway. I chose to go about the drawing of a winner the traditional way, that is, drawing the names out of a hat. I wrote the names of the participants on a piece of paper. And then, I borrowed one of hubby’s prized caps, one that was autographed by F1 driver Fernando Alonso.

Into the hat the names went…

The winner was excitedly drawn by my daughter. Oh you have no idea how many times she reminded me about drawing a winner!

I guess I’m now ready to reveal the winner of the Totino’s Pizzeria Rolls Giveaway. The winner of a lovely tiled tray, the cute salt and pepper shaker set and (3) coupons for free Totino’s Pizzeria Rolls is…

Congratulations, Camille! I will be getting in touch with you so I can get the details that will be submitted to the giveaway sponsor/s. :)

Thanks to everyone who indulged me in this fun giveaway! You all rock! ‘Til the next giveaway!

Have a great great week ahead! *muah*

]]>http://cafemunchkin.com/2013/05/19/and-the-winner-of-the-totinos-pizzeria-rolls-giveaway-is/feed/0Blondieshttp://cafemunchkin.com/2013/05/16/blondies/
http://cafemunchkin.com/2013/05/16/blondies/#commentsThu, 16 May 2013 22:45:15 +0000http://cafemunchkin.com/?p=4232I had coffee with some of my dearest mommy friends this morning. I brought them some post-Mother’s Day treats, too. Blondies! Blondies – brownies that are not brown because there’s no cocoa powder – are my favorite go-to treats to give. They are just so easy to make and they are oh so good! In fact, last Friday, I made blondies for “Sweet Treats Day” of Teacher Appreciation Week. I used Chinese to-go boxes for packaging and each of my daughter’s teachers got one.

I baked the blondies in a 15″ x 10″ (?) jelly roll plan. Before I cut the baked product into bite-sized pieces, it looked like one big slab of blondie. Yum! (Please excuse the red stains on my chopping board. I airbrushed a dragon cake on this baby. :) )

I was able to get 72 pieces out of that one big slab of blondie. Normally, I would drizzle melted chocolate on top of the blondies. But due to lack of time, I wasn’t able to. In not doing so, I saved my friends some extra calories! No harm done!

I love love these to-go boxes. I got them from a craft store. Underneath the boxes, it says that they are not food safe. So I lined them all with wax paper. You can fit a good number of blondies in the regular-sized boxes.

I also had the smaller and cuter boxes. They can hold about 4 to 5 pieces.

I published the recipe for these blondies on this site years ago, in 2007. I’ll make it easier for you all and just republish the recipe. It is from the Hershey’s Classic Recipes book.

2. Stir together brown sugar and butter in large bowl; beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add flour and salt, beating just until blended; stir in chocolate, peanut butter and white chips. Spread batter into prepared pan.

]]>http://cafemunchkin.com/2013/05/16/blondies/feed/2Totino’s Pizzeria Rolls Give-awayhttp://cafemunchkin.com/2013/05/14/totinos-pizzeria-rolls-give-away/
http://cafemunchkin.com/2013/05/14/totinos-pizzeria-rolls-give-away/#commentsTue, 14 May 2013 23:25:46 +0000http://cafemunchkin.com/?p=4225I am back! Again! It’s a vicious cycle, that I realize. This might be the longest I’ve been away, so long that I’ve almost forgotten my log-in information. Ha! I still cook and bake and decorate cakes. I still eat out…an awful lot, might I add! Once I get my groove back, this blog should be running like a well-oiled machine and I’ll be posting entries and sharing away like in the good old blogging days. *cross fingers*

So, to celebrate this blog’s rise from oblivion, I am having a give-away! Yay! I recently received a prize pack from General Mills and Totino’s through MyBlogSpark. Why? Because Totino’s has an all-new Pizzeria line! Keep reading…

Totino’s is introducing three new flavors of pizza snacks with their all-new Pizzeria line. The new Cheesy Garlic, Chicken Parmesan and Meatball Marinara are flavors everyone in your family will enjoy. Look for Totino’s® Pizzeria Rolls next time you’re in the freezer section of your local grocery store and bring home the Italian pizzeria taste kids and adults love. In just 60 seconds, you can’t get more Italian!

We’ve had the chance to sample the three new flavors and my family’s instant favorite was the Chicken Parmesan. It was a unanimous choice!

Like I said, I received a prize pack, which included the following:

(3) VIP coupons, so I can try each of the 3 new flavors FREE
4-tile wood handle tray with salt and pepper shaker set

Genera Mills and Totino’s want to give the exact same prize pack to (1) one lucky blog reader! Yeehaa! All you have to do is leave a comment to be included in the raffle. Be nice, ok?! The give-away will run until 11:59PM Central Time on Saturday, May 18, 2013. Unfortunately, the give-away is only open to US residents. You have to have a US address as our sponsors are unable to ship the package outside of the USA.

I will announce the winner on Sunday, May 19, 2013, in another blog entry. In drawing a winner, I will either use the traditional method of drawing the name out of a hat or use a randomizer, depending on the number of comments, which shouldn’t be too many. Hee hee. Fair enough?

“Disclosure: The prize pack, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills and Totino’s through MyBlogSpark.”

]]>http://cafemunchkin.com/2013/05/14/totinos-pizzeria-rolls-give-away/feed/18Barney and Friends Birthday Cakehttp://cafemunchkin.com/2012/05/31/barney-and-friends-birthday-cake/
http://cafemunchkin.com/2012/05/31/barney-and-friends-birthday-cake/#commentsThu, 31 May 2012 05:07:23 +0000http://cafemunchkin.com/?p=4184I was going through the list of posts on this blog’s dashboard and found a draft for an entry, which I attempted to write in March. It was about a cake that I made in September 2011. That’s just so flake-y, if you ask me! Hee hee. I don’t know if I have any more drafts waiting to finally get published. But here is one that will now actually get to see the light of day.

I made this Barney and Friends cake for the 2nd birthday of the daughter of dear friends of mine. My own daughter had a Barney and Friends cake for her 2nd birthday, which I ordered from Goldilocks. Simpler times. *wink*

This was one of those days when stars related to cake decorating, if there are any, were in perfect alignment. I was in such a good mood when I was making this cake that I made not one, not two, but three fondant cake toppers. And boy were these heavy! I thought I was going to need a Howard Medical hospital cart-ish type of thing to carry the cake. Kidding!

I know for a fact that one figure took me more than an hour to make. I know, I know, too slow! But a lot of times, I get too obsessed about the little details. That should be a good thing, right? But there are deadlines.

Of these three figures, Baby Bop was my favorite. Just look at her! Please say she looked like the real thing. :)

I love making cakes for kids. This particular cake took me back in time when my daughter thought that a purple singing and talking dinosaur was the coolest thing on tv…he and Dora the Explorer! Simpler times.

Now, let me go see if there are other drafts to be unearthed.

Cheers, y’all! :)

]]>http://cafemunchkin.com/2012/05/31/barney-and-friends-birthday-cake/feed/3No-Bake Cupcake Favorshttp://cafemunchkin.com/2012/05/15/no-bake-cupcake-favors/
http://cafemunchkin.com/2012/05/15/no-bake-cupcake-favors/#commentsTue, 15 May 2012 23:00:28 +0000http://cafemunchkin.com/?p=4194My daughter had her First Holy Communion over a week ago. I was not able to make a cake to commemorate the special day. I did, however, make “no-bake cupcakes” as token gifts for her friends who celebrated with us.

So they’re inedible. Hee hee. I got the idea after going through countless websites looking for First Communion party favors. A lot of my daughter’s friends are older than she is. I did not want to give them another party bag with pencils, bubbles, stickers and candies. I thought a white washcloth would be a nice and at the same time symbolic favor. I topped the cupcakes with a lollipop.

Half of the materials I used for this no-baking project were already available to me here at home. I used scrapbooking paper for the cupcake liners. The curling ribbons were from my stash of gift wrapping supplies. The gift tags, I also printed myself. The only things I bought were the washcloths (from Costco) the Tootsie pops (from Target) and the cellophane bags (from Michael’s – Don’t ever forget to use a coupon at Michael’s!!). I dare say the perceived value of the favors was greater than their actual cost. *wink*

Just like the cakes, cupcakes and goodies that come out of my kitchen, these inedible goodies were so much fun to make. Yes, yes…I have too much time in my hands. Not! :)

Cheers. y’all!

]]>http://cafemunchkin.com/2012/05/15/no-bake-cupcake-favors/feed/0Twin Peakshttp://cafemunchkin.com/2012/04/04/twin-peaks/
http://cafemunchkin.com/2012/04/04/twin-peaks/#commentsWed, 04 Apr 2012 06:35:33 +0000http://cafemunchkin.com/?p=4186In a very recent lunch date, hubby and I went to a mountain lodge that offered scenic views practically anywhere and everywhere we looked. The really cool thing was, we didn’t have to drive more than 20 minutes away from where we live. So where’s this mountainous region right smack in the middle of Round Rock, Texas? Twin Peaks! The sports bar’s logo says it all: Eats. Drinks. Scenic Views. And mind you, they were not lying, specially about the scenic views. *wink*

Twin Peaks is the perfect man-cave really. It is ruled by fun, sexy, confident and very well endowed women dressed in red and black checked tops and wee bit shorter than short khaki shorts. There were more than enough flat screen tvs that were tuned in to sports and the Twin Peaks channels. But it would really be quite difficult to concentrate on the tv screens when all the action was right there on the the dining room floor and at the bar. Even I found it hard not to stare! Yeah, envious much! Hee hee.

Twin Peaks has a single-page menu. You know that it’s not very smart to eat at a sports bar when you’re watching your weight and counting calories, right? I’m pleased that they had something for the temporary non-meat eaters like hubby and me.

I ordered the Shrimp and Chicken Basket. Fire Fries completed the ensemble. All the chicken strips became my daughter’s afternoon snack when she came home from school. And mind you, she thought they were delicious. :)

My food was served in a wire basket with a paper liner. I kinda liked the presentation. I had three dipping sauces, too: poblano mustard, cocktail and tartar. What is it about fries that one just can’t get enough of them? I would have loved a piece or two more of shrimps. There were only four.

Hubby ordered the Blackened Fish Tacos served with nachos and salsa…

The fish was seasoned well and perfectly cooked. The veggies did not overpower the flavors of the fish. The nachos were a little greasy for my taste but guess what, I had a couple of them just the same.

I understand if you have second thoughts about bringing your kids to Twin Peaks. But you are more than welcome to bring them. Kids eat free at Twin Peaks on Saturdays and Sundays until 4 PM. I can just imagine what my daughter’s going to say if and when we bring her to Twin Peaks, “Their clothes are too small.”

Twin Peaks boasts of beer that is served at 29 degrees in a frosted glass. I hear they even form crystals at the top! Drinks have very playful names, too, like Dirty Blonde and Knotty Brunette. Did I mention that hubby had a Knotty Brunette?

Overall, I liked the energy of the place. Don’t be surprised if you chance upon guests bobbing their heads like yoyos in a yo yo factory. You can blame that on the music! Hubby and I were quite pleased with the food. We also found the service to be good.

Next time we’re here, we’ll try the wings, which is the true test of sports bar awesomeness. Ha!

Cheers, y’all! Enjoy the view! *wink*

]]>http://cafemunchkin.com/2012/04/04/twin-peaks/feed/1Sap’s Fine Thai Cuisinehttp://cafemunchkin.com/2012/03/27/saps-fine-thai-cuisine/
http://cafemunchkin.com/2012/03/27/saps-fine-thai-cuisine/#commentsWed, 28 Mar 2012 04:36:22 +0000http://cafemunchkin.com/?p=4178Fans of Madam Mam’s Noodle(s) and More on West Gate Blvd. are all probably already aware by now of the name change to Sap’s Fine Thai Cuisine. You’ll find the reason for the said change at the very end of this Austin Chronicle article. The Sap’s staff assured us that only the name has changed. The staff remains the same. So no chef uniforms were hung or retired.

We have been to Sap’s and Madam Mam’s on West Anderson Lane three times in the last four weeks. Three times! That’s every weekend since March 4th, except for March 11th. I guess you can say we like Thai cuisine that much! Haha!

This is my new favorite dry noodle dish, Yum Guay Teaw. My choice of protein was fried tofu. This dish reminded me of the Philippines’ pancit sotanghon or pancit bihon except that this Thai version had cilantro and peanuts and had a sweetness and a hint of sourness to it.

Hubby ordered the Noodle Lord and opted for vermicelli instead of flat noodles. He is usually happy with the dishes he orders at Sap’s, but not during this visit. He found the sauce to be overly sweet. I guess you win some, you lose some.

This is my daughter’s current favorite, Lard Na with Fried Tofu with the vegetables served on the side. *rolls eyes* I know, we should have a good talk about this veggies on the side thing of hers. For now, I’ll just let her be.

My daughter seems to like it. I’m not a huge fan because I’m not particularly fond of saucy noodles unless it’s a pasta dish. For Asian noodles, I want them stir-fried or with soup.

I think I’m ready to order something new the next time we’re at Sap’s. Sap’s does have an extensive menu. I won’t be surprised if we find ourselves in Thailand again this weekend, gastronomically speaking at least. :)

Here’s a tip if you’re planning on having a meal at Sap’s, be sure to come for either a very early or very late lunch or dinner. Otherwise, there’s a very good chance you’ll have a hard time finding a parking spot and waiting a long time for a table.

Cheers, y’all!

]]>http://cafemunchkin.com/2012/03/27/saps-fine-thai-cuisine/feed/0Chompin’ on Chipshttp://cafemunchkin.com/2012/03/26/chompin-on-chips/
http://cafemunchkin.com/2012/03/26/chompin-on-chips/#commentsTue, 27 Mar 2012 01:36:43 +0000http://cafemunchkin.com/?p=4171For a change, I was an eager spectator at a race yesterday, the Austin Statesman Capitol 10K. I was cheering, first and foremost, for my favorite runner in the whole wide world – hubby. *wink* I also cheered for a good friend and practically everyone who ran in front of me on the race course. I was yelling like a mad woman and I had so much fun. It was a warm morning, as if to tell everyone that the season for heated gloves is really over, at least here in Texas.

Tents with treats that ranged from flavored coconut water to reusable bags and post-race food awaited the runners at the open field in front of the Long Center. This was easily my favorite tent…

Why? Here, let me take you closer…

Chips galore! There were boxes and boxes of chips! Sea salt and vinegar was easily my favorite. My daughter’s, too! How can something sooo good be sooo bad for us?! It’s just not right.

Good news for everyone planning to run the Schlotzsky’s Bun Run on April 29. There’s a discount code that you can use to take $5 off your registration fee for the 5K or 10K distances: CAP10K. The code is valid until April 15 only. So take note and take advantage!

]]>http://cafemunchkin.com/2012/03/26/chompin-on-chips/feed/0Airbrush Basicshttp://cafemunchkin.com/2012/03/23/airbrush-basics/
http://cafemunchkin.com/2012/03/23/airbrush-basics/#commentsSat, 24 Mar 2012 04:59:34 +0000http://cafemunchkin.com/?p=4165If there was one color rendering technique that always intimidated me as a student of architecture, it was airbrushing. So I stayed far far away from it, embarrassing as it is to admit. I don’t even recall ever touching an airbrush gun and a compressor. But, there comes a time when we just have to face our fears. That time, as far as air brushing is concerned, came last Wednesday, when I attended an Airbrush Basics class. Why now? It’s simple really. I want an alternative option for adding color to my cakes. And I had a Living Social deal that was going to expire! The class, by the way, was held at a baking supplies store that offered a variety of baking related classes. *wink*

So how did the three-hour class go? I think it went well, if I may say so myself. We started by making dots and lines…

And then, we made some swirls…

Then we attempted to write our names. Next, we tried to make spheres…

That was pretty exciting. Hahaha! The spheres were followed by a heart…

I love the shadow effect. ;) And then, we made some clouds. I made two! This…

And this, my favorite…

Finally, to end the class, we made a rainbow using only 3 (food) colors…

Perfect for colorful umbrella stands! I realized at the end of class that there’s nothing to be scared of after all. Oh all the years I wasted!

Now I’m thinking I should make up for lost time by getting myself a new toy, an airbrushing kit. I should be able to come up with a final decision by the end of the weekend. ;)

Cheers, y’all!

]]>http://cafemunchkin.com/2012/03/23/airbrush-basics/feed/0Pink and Purple Garden Cakehttp://cafemunchkin.com/2012/03/23/pink-and-purple-garden-cake/
http://cafemunchkin.com/2012/03/23/pink-and-purple-garden-cake/#commentsFri, 23 Mar 2012 07:50:59 +0000http://cafemunchkin.com/?p=4161Here’s another cake entry out of my treasure chest. Majority of the cakes I’ve made for little girls have the same color motif – pink and purple. I have to admit, I love those colors myself. When a friend requested me to make her daughter’s first birthday cake, she basically just told me she wants a pink and purple 2-tier cake with lots of flowers (like a garden), and maybe a fairy or princess. I love it when I practically have free rein on a cake’s design. *wink*

I had fun making this cake. Come to think of it, most of the cakes I’ve made thus far were a lot of fun.

I really need to work on my figure-sculpting. Hahaha! I appreciate that lately, friends have been requesting for inedible figure toppers, so the kids can play with them after the candles have been blown. Bless their hearts!

I especially like the mushrooms. I think they’re cute. Do you see the swings between the mushrooms? Please say you don’t because there’s none! Gotcha!

I think I’ve got a couple more pink and purple cakes in my treasure chest. You’ll see them all soon.